Tapa - Heartbeat of the Pacific

Inspired by Whanganui’s Pacific Islands communities and the Museum’s beautiful tapa collection, this exhibition is a celebration of their vibrant and dynamic art.

The Museum collection, comprising more than 70 tapa cloths, has been donated over the past 100 years, principally from Wanganui people returning from visiting Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. This stunning exhibition describes the significance of tapa, how it is made, the meaning of the patterns, and its role in contemporary life. The exhibition also includes work by renowned Samoan artist Fatu Feu’u, created as a response to the collection.

Director Sharon Dell commented, “This exhibition is an opportunity to show the richness and diversity of the heritage of the Pacific Islands people who live here in Wanganui”.

Tapa: Heartbeat of the Pacific runs from 17 June until 5 November 2006.

The Kiwi in Kiwiana

The Museum presents The kiwi in Kiwiana , celebrating our identity , an exciting and fresh look at how the kiwi has become part of our national identity. Did you know our national icon is endangered and some species only survive on island sanctuaries, or that we have been known as kiwis since World War 1? Some visitors to New Zealand think kiwiburgers are made from our national icon! We're quite proud of the fact that kiwifruit was first grown here in Wanganui and that the Melbourne Cup winning racehorse Kiwi is from here! In this exhibition you'll see everything kiwiana from the Kiwi Bacon Company to kiwi collectibles to extraordinarily beautiful kiwi feather cloaks.

The kiwi in Kiwiana, celebrating our identity was developed and toured by Pataka, Porirua Museum of Art and History.

^ Hot off the Press

Hot off the Press, a Whanganui Regional Museum exhibition featuring our 150 year printing history, opens in February 2004. Printing is one of the surprising highlights identified as contributing to Whanganui’s national and international reputation. We have New Zealand’s longest continuously published newspaper, an 80-year-old Māori language magazine, Tearaway a national magazine for youth and printing pioneers whose work was sent around the world.

The exhibition also describes major technological innovations for printing with examples from the Museum’s extensive collections, works by a local artist and business products illustrating these developments.

Printing is not restricted to producing written works or colourful images on paper. Over time, the development of many varied print techniques has ensured that a diverse range of objects and media can be effectively decorated or marked. Textiles, wood, ceramics and clay, as well as paper, have all been subject to printing processes. A wonderful selection of objects from the Museum collections illustrates this diversity of print techniques on different media.

This is an exhibition that contributes to our community's understanding of its history and achievements while at the same time showing how printing technology, in all its forms, pervade everyday life.

^ We Will Remember Them: ANZACs of WW1

We Will Remember Them: ANZACs of WW1 commemorates the heroes of the Whanganui region; those who served, those who lost their lives and those who waited at home with brave hearts. This exhibition contains many evocative objects and photographs including the flag that flew above the New Zealand Army Headquarters on Gallipoli and the flag presented to local Māori by King George V to honour the contribution of the Māori contingent and the Māori Pioneer Battalion in World War 1. Local man Corporal Leslie Andrew also features along with a German machine-gun that he captured to earn the Victoria Cross.

New: Acknowledging five years of gifts to the collection, is an exhibition featuring a selection of rare, common, unusual and beautiful items that have been donated to the Museum in the last five years. The Museum collects objects and stories about Whanganui and its people, and gifts include family treasures, common everyday objects, rare and unusual objects ans, sometimes, things that were about to be taken to the dump. Over 400 donors have gifted thousands of items to the collection.

Included in the exhibition are a port light from Castlecliff, a silver tea service that belonged to Reverend Richard Taylor, a kahu kiwi (kiwi feather cloak) just returned from Australia, an 1860s mill stone from Kauaeroa, specimens of wood roses and a complete Girl Guide uniform.

Invasion at the Museum

Spider Invasion at the Museum

What's so special about Whanganui anyway?

The people, the river, mountains on the horizon, the climate, the Durie Hill elevator, the beaches, riverboats, junk shops, gorgeous old buildings, flowering baskets along the main street and, of course, the Museum.

This is Whanganui today. How did we get to this?
A few hundred thousand years ago Whanganui was like any other place in New Zealand: bush, birds, bugs and not a lot else. But then something happened. Volcanoes spouted forth and, from them, the rivers cut their winding passages down to the sea. A fertile land was created and, later, people came, recognised its worth and settled.

The Whanganui River enthralled explorers, sustained families, connected communities, but also caused periodic devastation reminding us of the inexplicable forces of nature. The stories of this land and the people who have lived on it, been supported by it, gone to war for it, been inspired by it, and, who love it, are The Whanganui Story.